Texas Faith Blog

`Reflections on Holocaust and Genocide’ event set for Sunday

It’s scheduled for this Sunday, beginning at 5:30 p.m. (I had the wrong time earlier.) The venue has been changed to the Unity Church of Dallas. Details below:

SECOND ANNUAL “REFLECTIONS ON HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE”
TO BE PRESENTED

DALLAS (January 14, 2009), Local members of Muslim, Christian, Jewish and other religious communities are joining together for an event with the support of The World Muslim Congress for Peace, The Memnosyne Foundation, Unity Church, The Dallas Peace Center and The Foundation for Pluralism, to encourage Dallas’ diverse community to join in a unified commemoration of the Holocaust and other genocides that have or are occurring around the world. The event, “Reflections on Holocaust and Genocides” is scheduled for Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 5:30 pm. until 7:30 pm at The Unity Church of Dallas at 6525 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230.

The event will include prominent speakers, prayers; and the keynote speaker will be Bryan Mark Rigg, Ph.D., a noted local historian and published author. The goal of the event is to create awareness of the inhumanity in all of us, and discover and create solutions for peaceful co-existence.

An art installation designed by artist Nancy Rebal and composer James Neel will be presented to encourage participation by capturing the recorded voices of Dallas/Fort Worth citizens and friends in attendance. After the event, the art installation will be delivered to the people of Rwanda in recognition of the 15th anniversary of the genocide that occurred. On February 13th leaders from around the world will come together in Kigali, Africa to memorialize the victims. Among the first words the Rwandans will hear emitting from the art installation will be the voices of the citizens of Dallas/Fort Worth along with such leaders as Desmond Tutu who champion peace, tolerance and understanding.

Imam Zia Shaikh, an Islamic Scholar and past supporter of local interfaith gatherings, will serve as the moderator for the event. Imam Shaikh has been invited to participate in an event and has accepted the invitation to do so in the in behalf of The World Muslim Congress for Peace. It is the hope of all involved organizations that this exchange will be one of the first small steps towards healing tensions between Dallas’ own Jewish and Muslim communities.

Mike Ghouse, President of The World Muslim Congress For Peace and chairperson of the event explains, “The mission of The Muslim World Congress for Peace is to work for a world of co-existence through inclusiveness and participation. As a member of diverse family of faiths, our efforts will be directed towards justice and equity to attain peace for humankind with a firm grounding in commonly held values. We cannot have advantages at the cost of others. Such benefits are temporary and deleterious to lasting peace. We believe what is good for Muslims has got to be good for the world, and vice versa, to sustain it.”

Mary Ann Thompson-Frenk a Dallas leader and president/co-founder of The Memnosyne Foundation, which is a major sponsor of the event, adds, “This event has the potential to turn a local community gathering commemorating the Holocaust into a symbol that can help heal others beyond our own borders. The Jewish and Muslim community leaders who stepped forward to make this collaboration happen have made the courageous choice to walk their talk. It will be their unified voice that prays for peace, tolerance and non-violence which will be delivered to the genocide survivors in Rwanda. For it’s not enough that we challenge others to cross barriers towards creating a more peaceful world, we must also challenge ourselves to become living demonstrations of the world we dream of for our grandchildren. That is why the symbolism of this event is so vitally important.”

Admission is free, open to the public and seating is limited. Guests may R.s.v.p. at ConfirmAttendance@gmail.com The event is being underwritten by The Memnosyne Foundation and supported by the World Muslim Congress for peace, Dallas Peace Center, The Foundation for Pluralism and graciously hosted by Unity Church, The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27th as an annual international day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era

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The Texas Faith blog is a discussion among formal and informal religious leaders whose faith traditions express a belief in a transcendent power – or the possibility of one. While all readers are invited to participate in this blog, by responding in the comments section, discussion leaders are those whose religion involves belief in a divine higher power or those who may not believe in a transcendent power but leave room for the possibility of one. Within this framework, moderators William McKenzie and Wayne Slater seek to bring a diversity of thinkers onto the Texas Faith panels.